Car-derailing device.



W. M. MITCHELL.

GAR DERAILING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED AUG.12, 1908.

923,683. 7 Patented June 1, 1909.

- vided with means Wheels, and is designed to struction, combination andarran parts hereinafter fully describe drawing, in which EETTEE sTETEsEETEET eEETEE.

WALTER M i MITCHELL,

OF PRATT CITY, ALABAMA.

OAR-DERAILING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER M. a citizen of the United Pratt City, in theMrronnLL, States, residing at county of Jeiierson and State of Alabama,have invented new and useful Improvements inlar-Derailing Devices, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This-invention relates .to a (lei-ailing device adapted for use upon thetram cars of inclined railways where the cars are liable to break looseand run back by gravity down the track, the main object of the inventionbeing to provide a device of this character which may be readily andconveniently applied to one of the rear wheels of the rear car of atrain when the train parts at any point to prevent the train fromdescending the grade and bring it to an immediate stop.

A. further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which is inde endent in structure .of the ear frame and l u bereadily and easily mounted upon the proper wheel of any car of ordinaryconstruction, thus ren derin it ada table for eneral use and -which isfurther designed to permit a limited rearward movement of the carwithout derailing action, as when the car moves backward a slightdistance in starting the train.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a derailing devicewhich is supported solely upon the wheel in. connection with which saiddevice is used, and which is profor securing it against disengagementand preventing it from bindin objectionably upon the wheel.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of thefeati'ncs of congement of dand claimed, accompanying reference being hadto the Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device as aapplied foroperation to the wheel of a car. Fig. 2 1s a perspective view of thedevice detached. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the. sainef Fig; 4 is adetail perspective showing the pivotal connection between 0f the device.

Fig. 5 is a d(. tail-' cross section "on hue 5--5 of Fig. 1

Tlieunproved derailing device constitu ti n'g myinvention comprises apair of bars or see trons 1 and 2, of curved-form to rest upon andSpecification of Letters Patent. Application filed August 12, 1908.

to automatically derail the ear face of the lower end Patented June 1,1909. Serial No. 448,225.

)m'tially surround the wheel of a car. The ars conform substantially inwidth with the tread surface of the wheel, and may be made of cast steelor other suitable material. The front section. 1 is adapted to rest 11on the upper front surface of the wheel and is a curved to conform.thereto, while its lower 'end is st tight and vertical and of properlength to terminatea short distance above the track rail. The rearsection 2 rests upon and is of proper curvature to conform to thatportion of the contour ,of the tread of the wvheel between theupperxrear end of the front section and the lowprrear portion of thetread of the wheel to a point above and in rear of the portion of treadimmediately in contact with the rail, the outer of said rail section beI ing beveled substantially to a point, as shown the sections 1 inent ofthe arms l f at 3. l

By this constru mitted to have a before the point 3 of the section 2 ofthe device, which turns rearwardly with the wheel, comes into con tactwith the rail and between the rail andtreadof the wheel, whereby thewheel is lifted and derailed, as hereinafter described.

In order to adapt the device to be readily engaged with and disengagedfrom a wheel and rest loosely thereon. during the forward movement ofthe wheel, the meeting ends of the sections 1 and 2 are pivotallyconnected by a pivot pin or bolt 4. The upper rear end of the frontsection 1 is reduced to provide a tongue 6 which projects beyond thesome and is recessed at opposite sides to form shoulders 7, while theupper forward end. of the section 2 is formed with a slot 8 to receivethe tongue and provided with for wardly extending bracing arms 9 adaptedto enter said. recesses, the upper faces of said arms being cut away toform engaging surfaces to rest against the shoulders 7 and to provideauxiliary shoulders 10 to bear against the upper end of the section 1 onopposite sides of the tongue. The pivot pin or bolt 4 passes through theside walls of the slot 8 and the tongue 6. and p'ivotallycon-- nects theparts together, the )ivotal motion in one direction being limited by theengage- 9 with the shoulders 7, and in the reverse direction by theengagement of the auxiliary shoulders 10 with the upper end of thesection 1. A relative outward movement of the sections is thus permittedto ction, the wheel is perpartial rearward rotation in advance of thewheel during the forward adapt the device to be spread or openedsufficiently for application to andremoval from the wheel, whileunduecontraction of the device is prevented by the engagement of thearms 9 and shoulders 7, so as to prevent the device from gripping thewheel with sufficient force to act as a partial brake, whereby thedevice will be loosely supported upon the Wheel so as to allowthe'latter to have free forward rotation.

In order to retain the derailer in working position on the wheel and toproperly engage it with the wheel for derailing action, the sections arerespectively provided at their inner sides with segmental grooved orchanneled a said section at a point about midway of the circumferentiallength of the latter, so that the outer end of said rib in the rearwardrotation of the wheel to the necessary degree will come in contact withthe outer face of the head of the rail and then, as the wheel continuesto revolve, will through its diagonal arrangement gradually draw thewheel outwardly until it is finally pulled off the rail, th'us derailingthe car. It will be understood that the lower tapered portion of thesection 2 below the rib passes under the wheel and between the same andthe head of the rail and lifts the wheel in its rearward rotation sothat the wheel may be derailed without resistance from the flangethereof.

A supporting shoe 14 is pivotally mounted upon the lower straight end ofthe section 1, as at 15, and is adapted to slide upon the rail movementof the car and to support the derailing device and prevent it from beingmoved forward and out of working position by the motion of the wheel.The shoe has a beveled or inclined toe portion 16, for a purposehereinafter described, and is connected.

by a chain or like flexible connection 17 with a coiled spring 18connected with the straight portion of theseotion l at a suitableelevation above the pivotal connection of the shoe.

In the operation of the device, which is loosely mounted upon one of therear wheels of a single ear or last oar oi a train, the normal positionof the parts is maintained while the ear is stationary or in forwardmotion, the wheel turning independently of the derailer, which ismaintained in working position by the supporting" action of the shoesliding on the rail. If there should teases be a break in the hoistingrope or cable-oi the cars of the train should part from any cause, thewheel 19 in rotatingrearwardly wili eleveto the shoe from the rail andcarry the derailing device around with it, so that the; point or taperedportion 3 of the'rear section will come in contact with the rail andliltthe wheel out of engagement therewith, whereby upon the furthermovement of the wheel the rib 13 will engage the rail and derail thewheel'and stop the car. It will be observed that the elevating portionof the section 2 is of sufl'icient circumferential length to adapt thewheel to have a partial rearward movement before the dcrailing rib comesinto action, by which the car or train will be pen mittcd to have theordinary slight bacle ward motion before the pull of the hoisting engineor cable begins thereon wilhont do railing the car. This slight backwardmovement will hit the shoe 1% from the rail, but on the subsequentforward movement of the whccl the beveled toe of the. shoe, which ispermitted to drop to a nearly vertical position by the flexibleconnection 17. comes in contact with. the rail and readily adjustsitself to working position nithout injury. It will be understood thatthe spring yieldingly limits the downward movement oi the shoe andsupports it at the properangle l'or an easy return to normal positiondescribed.

From the foregoing description, the con struction and mode of operaiionof my improved derailing device will be readily understood, and it willbe seen that it provides a simple and ellective device of this characterwhich may be readily applied to and rcmoved from a car wheel, which isindepcndent in construction of the wheel or car frame,

as above and which embodies substantial advantages due to its'peculiarconstruction alone.

Having thus fully described the invention tially encircle-and restloosely upon a wheel and. having means for engaging the flange ol' thewheel, said device comprising front and rear pivotaliy connectedsections, the rear section having a lower wheel elevating poi tion andan upper diagonally arranged de- -railing rib, and the front sectionbeing provided at its lower end with pivotally mounted supporting shoeto run upon the shoe.

-the pivotal point to limit the opposite front bar being provided at itslower end with a 'pivotally supported shoe and means for flexiblylimiting the downward movement thereof, and the rear bar being providedwith a tapered lower wheel elevating portion and a dlagonally arrangedderailing rib above the same. 5. A car derailing device of partiallycircular form to loosely rest upon and partially encircle a Wheel, saiddevice being rovided with means to interlock with the ange of the wheeland comprising jointed sections,, one of said sections being providedwith a yieldably mounted sup orting member to en lgage and ride upon t etrack rail and the other section having a lower wheel elevating rail,and spring controlled supporting means for limiting the downwardmovement of the 3. A car derailing device of partially circul lar formto rest loosely upon andpartially' encircle a wheel and having means forengaging the fiange of the wheel, said device l comprising front andrear sections, said sections being pivotally connected at their meetingends-and having stop shoulders at ivotal movements thereof, the rearsection aving a lower wheel elevating portion and an'upper diagonallyarranged derailing rib, and the front section being provided at itslower end with a pivotally mounted supporting shoe to run upon the rail.V

4. A car derailing device comprising a pair of partially circular barspivota y connected at their meeting ends and provided with means forlimiting their pivotal movement on each other, said bars being'adaptedto rest loosely upon a wheel and provided with flanges to engage theflange of the wheel, the

portion and a derailing' rib arranged above the same.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' v WALTER M. MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

L. N. KING, W. W. POWELL.

